We hadn’t seen Deon Meyer in
the UK for a few years, much of the interruption being the COVID-19 global
pandemic – which was eerily echoed in his extraordinary novel FEVER released in the summer of
2017.
FEVER was met with huge
acclaim – here’s the Shots Magazine review HERE – it also enjoyed a
second burst of interest in 2020-2021 during the global pandemic years due to
its apocalyptic themes that had migrated from fiction into fact.
I enjoyed spending an
afternoon with him back in 2017 discussing our mutual interest in
post-apocalyptic fiction both literary and film.
Deon highlighted his favourite Post-Apocalyptic works HERE and when we compared
notes naturally Stephen King’s The
Stand as well as Robert
McCammon’s Swansong and Richard
Matheson’s I am Legend came up. We were also both
readers of John
Christopher [though he was actually Sam Youd and deployed an array of
pennames over the years of which the John Christopher is the one he was most
associated with]. From the pen of Christopher would come many science fiction
novels that featured apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction. It was his 1956
novel The
Death of Grass that allowed him to write full-time [filmed
as No Blade of Grass]
which he wrote while working in South Africa.
We had both read work such as Neville Shute’s On the Beach, A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr., John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, PD James’ Children of Men, and then we discussed the films that evoke that Mad Max world, as well as the myriad disaster movies of this sub-genre.
The article that came from that afternoon in 2017 is archived HERE
But back to 2024,
post pandemic…..
Hodder and Stoughton had
organised a small gathering of London Book Reviewers at the renowned Vivat
Bacchus restaurant in the Farringdon
district of London. We were treated to
fine South African wine and exotic delicacies, while we chatted to Deon and his
charming wife Marianne and our host Naimh Anderson from Hodder and Stoughton
publishing.
Of great interest was the
extraordinary Netflix action thriller Heart
of the Hunter written by Deon Meyer and Willem Grobler based on Deon’s
novel of the same name.
Deon’s book HEART OF
THE HUNTER was first published in Afrikaans in 2002 (as PROTEUS) and has
since been translated into 14 different languages worldwide. It is published in
South Africa in Afrikaans by Human & Rousseau and translated into English
by K.L. Seegers: in the UK it is published by Hodder & Stoughton, and in
the US and Canada by Grove Atlantic. It was selected as one of Chicago
Tribune’s 10 best mysteries and thrillers of 2004, longlisted for the IMPAC
Literary Award 2005 (now the Dublin Literary Award) and won the Deutsche Krimi Preis,
International Category, 2006.
In the Netflix Original film adaptation, Zuko Khumalo is an unassuming family man with a deadly past – but his tranquil world is abruptly turned upside down when an old colleague calls on him to honour an oath he made and save the country from venal political interests. Though he resists being pulled back into his previous life, it becomes clear that events already pose a deadly threat to his domestic ambitions and the peaceful family life he holds so dear. HEART OF THE HUNTER is a tale of one man’s struggle for survival against a corrupt government, a group of bloodthirsty killers and, most of all, against his past.
Read More from Blake Freidman
Agency HERE
Though the main talking point
was Deon’s upcoming novel LEO which I just read –
It has been a little while since we’ve been riding shotgun
with Detective Benny Griessel in South Africa but the wait is finally over with
the release of this explosive and violent thriller.
Read the full Shots Magazine
review HERE
We present a few photos of the evening as well as Deon’s previous UK visits – I remarked to Deon Meyer that he must have a special painting in his attic, as he has not aged at all over the years we’ve known him – Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray comes to mind I said - which produced a roar of laughter.
Foot Note: In memory of Saul Reichlin (1943-2023) from Ali
Karim
I would encourage our readers
to seek out Deon’s audiobooks narrated by the late Saul Reichlin. His narration
/ readings are excellent, bringing Deon Meyers’ [and other authors] work to
vibrant life.
I was fortunate to have been seated next
to him during Crimefest 2009’s Gala Dinner – we had a memorable evening and he
is without doubt one of the most interesting people I have met. To cap the
evening in style, Saul Reichlin was presented with the best audiobook of the
year as voted by Crimefest delegates for The
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. We kept in contact for a number of years, and
I so miss his laughter.
Saul Reichlin worked for six
decades as an actor, writer, producer and director, but was most in demand for
his rich, warm vocal tones, which he lent to many video games and audiobooks.
He narrated more than 245 books including work by Deon Meyer.
He was a tremendous man of the
arts, and great raconteur.
Read More HERE
